Long road to a park

Ten years and $4.18 million later, a park on Portland’s southeast side is complete.
Hudson Family Park will officially open in its finished state this spring. The 35-acre park has been developed over a period of 10 years on land donated to the city by local investor and banker Barry Hudson.
“They made it pretty neat. It’s way beyond my dreams,” Hudson said of the park. “I think it’s beyond wonderful. I just think it’s going to be full of people.”
“I think it’s fantastic, and all the comments I have received have been the same,” said park board president Neil Medler.
It took a while for the park project to gain momentum — especially when it came to funding. But once that was in place, all of the pieces began to fit together. The first phase was completed in 2006, and the last in 2010.
“It exceeded my own expectations,” Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier said of the park. He visits the park more than once a day. “I’m just so proud of what I believe this project is going to mean to the community.”
“It’s impressive,” said former park board president Donald Gillespie, who worked with Hudson on the gift of land. Gillespie preceded Medler as park board president, before leaving the group in 2004 because of time constraints. “It was a lot more than what I had envisioned. It’s very nice, and I commend the park board for their thinking and moving ahead.”
The total price tag for the park project is $4,188,394.06. This figure includes the cost of the river path trail system and the relocation of and repairs to a steel truss bridge that was erected over the Salamonie River. The bridge connects Hudson Family Park and Weiler-Wilson Park, which includes the city’s junior league diamonds, several basketball courts and Portland Pool. The original cost estimate for developing the park was $3.4 million.
“We had full confidence that we could complete the project,” said Hosier. The gift of land came with a deadline for developing the park, and Hosier took office nearly midway through the allotted time. “I would tell you that it was challenging at times. There’s no doubt about it.”
“I was never worried” about getting the project done by the deadline, Medler said.
Hudson and Gillespie remember the days when the park was just an empty piece of ground. Instead of a family park, it could have been a mobile home park.
Today, it is dotted with trees, flowers, walking paths, a pond and an amphitheater.
The amphitheater and the pond were the two most costly aspects of the park. Most of the pond work was done in phase III of the park, the amphitheater in phases III and IV.
Phase IV — the final phase of the park project — is being funded through bonding. Part of the cost includes bonding work done by Sue Beesley of Bingham McHale and Greg Guerrettz of Financial Solutions Group.
“The thing I’m the proudest of is (the bonding) was done without raising taxes,” Medler said. “To say the least, that’s pretty unusual.”
Phase IV also included additional trails throughout the park, a restroom/concession stand/ticket booth building, playground equipment, a shelter, the addition of a roof, back wall and towers to the amphitheater stage, seating for the amphitheater and additional landscaping.
“We were probably the first ones on the stage,” said Hudson, who visited the amphitheater with his family shortly after its completion. “It’s gigantic, it’s magnificent.”
Gillespie said he was surprised when he saw the magnitude of the completed project. “I envisioned an amphitheater with a mound and a gazebo. I did not envision brick bathrooms.”
Hudson originally donated 33.32 acres to the city on Sept. 5, 2000, he stipulated that the land be developed as a park and that an amphitheater and a pond be included, giving the city a 10-year window to complete the project. He later purchased additional land along the east side of Wayne Street and donated it to city for the park.
The previous property owner had attempted to get the land rezoned to build the mobile home park, but his request was rejected. Gillespie said he felt a mobile home park was not the best use of the land, and that he approached Hudson and told him he thought the land would be a great place for a park.
“In the back of my mind, I had always wanted a park there because it was adjacent to a park,” he said.
Hudson said about that time, a consultant hired by the city found that many city residents felt there was a need for a bigger park. Some residents suggested that the larger park have an amphitheater and a pond, he said.
The first few years of the project were spent applying for grants. The city applied twice for an Indiana Department of Transportation Transportation Enhancement Grant and was rejected both times.
“I always hoped for grants. We wanted to use grant money and donations,” said Gillespie. Despite multiple attempts, the grants never came. And $900,000 in federal funds earmarked for the project were taken off the table before the city had a chance to see the money.
“We were in a phase of architectural studies,” Gillespie said of the early part of the project, during which engineering firm Hannum, Wagle and Cline had been helping the city apply for grants. “The board felt the project was not moving very quickly and it was a little frustrating.”
Then, Hosier came into the picture and the project gained new momentum. He brought a new architectural firm — The Schneider Corporation, Indianapolis — into the picture.
“The city had made the commitment for a park project,” Hosier said. “There’s so many important developments, but the quality of life issue — there’s nothing more important than that.”
Before any work began, the city received a $50,000 Brownfields Stipulated Assessment Grant that was used to determine the environmental impact of the hatchery at 509 S. Wayne St. It was determined that the facility had not harmed the environment, the building was demolished and the area become the park entrance off of Wayne Street.
Also included in the first phase, funded through Portland Economic Development Income Tax Funds, were a drive, sign, small parking area and replica of the Arch Bridge. This phase was completed in 2006.
Phase II, completed in 2007, included extending a drive into the park and landscaping near the park entrance. The cost for this phase also was also covered by Portland EDIT funds.
Also in 2007, a steel truss bridge was installed over the Salamonie River connecting Weiler-Wilson and Hudson Family parks.
The bridge was more than 100 years old and had been in Knox Township, where it provided a passage over Brooks Creek on Division Road. This project was partially funded through a $339,200 INDOT transportation enhancement grant. The county paid 20 percent of the cost of the project through its cumulative bridge funds, and the state picked up the rest of the cost.
Earthwork was a big part of phase III of the park project. The pond was created, the slope for the amphitheater was made and the leftover dirt was used to make a sledding hill.
The river path project was completed in 2008 and was largely funded through a $560,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant from INDOT. The path begins at Meridian Street, runs parallel to the Salamonie River, crosses Wayne Street, goes to the steel truss bridge, and then continues to a restroom facility at Hudson Family Park.
Although the four planned phases of the park project are complete, that doesn’t mean that the park won’t continue to change.
“There’s more to come,” Medler said. “There are other projects that will happen.”
A local sorority still plans to build a gazebo at the park, and a disc golf course could be added at some point. Another addition to the park that some local officials and city residents have expressed interest in is a new pool.
“Having a pool there would be the icing on the cake,” Hudson said.
A grand opening ceremony for the park will be held sometime in May. Hosier said he envisions the ceremony including live entertainment, a community cookout and “family stuff.”
“We’ll be there,” Hudson said.[[In-content Ad]]